The World War One Story as it Actually Happened
Right, so it has been a few days, now, since I have posted something nonfiction, so I decided to take a break from philosophy and simply write a good ol’ article about non-interpretive events of pure fact. Now, I am assuming that you read the title of this post, so you know that I am going to talk about the start of World War One (my favorite part of history). “Are you serious?” You are thinking. “We have heard this story a million times, is this person still trying to milk the script?” Well, yes. I will not lie, this is a long post, but if you are as much into history as I am, it is definitely worth your time. Not to mention, I will make some commentary along the way that hopefully entertains you. So without further ado (I do not know how to spell that word), let’s begin!
Everyone is familiar with the “MAIN” causes of the Great War (ugh, I know). This included militarism, nationalism, imperialism (all of which are very bad philosophies), and of course, the tangle of international alliances that would lead all of Europe, almost, into a bloody war. All that had to happen was for Gavrilo Princip to commit one fatal act, and the world would be at war. But there is much more to it than that, and though I can only hit on the major points, I am confident in saying that if you want someone to blame for World War One, blame many people, but blame the French Revolutionaries first.
In 1799, with King Louis XVI and XVII dead and out of the picture, one notorious man would take the opportunity to seize France. Of course you know that I am talking about Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1804, the infamous general would declare himself emperor of France. With his newfound power, Napoleon, beloved by the French people, waged a series of wars across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. After a previous failed attempt to defeat and exile the emperor, the nations of Europe finally delivered his final blow at the Battle of Waterloo (present-day Belgium), in 1815. Napoleon would live out his life in luxury in exile on Saint Helena, where he would die in 1821.
Meanwhile, back in Middle Europe, the chaos remaining from Napoleon’s wars were still being felt. Nations were crumbling, and European monarchs worried that if they did not reinstall order soon, a new wave of revolutions would sweep Europe. None of these rulers and monarchs are more notable than Prince Klemens von Metternich, of Austria. He organized the Congress of Vienna, in 1814, which hosted many of Europe’s rulers. Their goal: to reinstate the “rightful” kings and monarchs in their places of power. They also established the Concert of Europe, a group of the allied European nations of England, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and (only much later) France.
The council created what became known as the Principle of Intervention. Essentially, if there was a revolution brewing anywhere in Europe, no matter what other nations were dealing with, they were encouraged to send aid to the struggling country and quell the revolution. They were fighting the inevitable, but for a few years, this worked very well.
Russia and Austria would strike a strong friendship when, in 1848, Austria was threatened by revolting peasants. Russia went out of their way to come to the Austrian’s aid and crushed the rebel forces. Other instances in which the Concert of Europe did well was in gaining the Greeks their independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830.
Of course, their efforts were all for nothing, because very soon, as the monarchs had feared, a wave of revolutions swept Europe. In 1830, Catholic Belgium gained its independence from the Protestant Netherlands. In 1848, literally dozens of revolutions swept the European continent. There was one in France, in which Louis Perre was overthrown and Napoleon III (Napoleon’s nephew) took power. There were revolutions in Italy, which were all quelled, except for at Piedmont. And the Frankfurt Assembly failed to unite the Germanic Confederation into the nation of Germany. (Many of these revolutions were inspired by Mark and Engle’s “Communist Manifesto”).
By the end of 1848, however, most of the revolutions had failed, leaving European nations free to turn their gaze to a land-grab opportunity: the Ottoman Empire. By the 1850’s the Ottoman Empire was on a swift decline. It would be an understatement to say that the empire had already died; rather, the leaders of the country were basically doing CPR on a stiff corpse. As the empire lost power, they lost land. Russia, which desired Ottoman land more than any other nation at the time, acted first.
Russia wanted to come to claim land that the Ottoman Empire would lose by claiming that they desired to protect Ottoman Christian Shrines within the nation’s border. The Ottoman Empire declared that they had already granted this duty to France, so Russia invaded the nation and took the shrines. France was offended, and declared war on Russia. Britain, its economics and trade in the Black Sea now threatened by conflict, joined the war as well. I must also point out just how significant it was that Britain and France fought on the same side. For the past one thousand years, these nations had been in nearly constant war. The Ottomans, predictably, sided with the British and the French.
Now, the Crimean War, as it became known, lasted from 1853-1856, and it was easily the bloodiest conflict of its time. It saw old military strategies being put into play with very advanced weaponry. There was the infamous “Charge of the Light Brigade,” and the fact that more soldiers died from disease than from combat, but what I want you to take away from all of this is what happened between Russia and Austria.
Russia, remember, had saved Austria from revolution in 1848, so when they pleaded to the Austrians for help during the Crimean War, they assumed that Austria would maintain their honor and come aid them. However, Austria pretty much gave Russia the cold shoulder and refused to intervene. The Austrian prime minister at the time even stated, “our ingratitude will shock the world.” Well, Russia would loose the Crimean War, and it was a very bloody end considering the fall of the fortress of Sevastopol. This would ensure that Russia and Austria would never become allies again, which is important to remember as I delve into our next topic.
By the 1860s, 70s and 80s, Europe was booming. Electricity, telephones, automobiles, advanced sewer systems, and clean running water were becoming common in most major cities. Two countries were lagging behind, however: Italy, and Prussia. Through the efforts of Count Camillo de Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi, the nation of Italy would be united in 1861.
Shortly before this arose one of the most outstanding, intelligent, ambitious figures in history: Otto von Bismarck. He became the Prime Minister of Prussia and was determined to unite the German lands. He was very intelligent in that he only took what land was absolutely necessary to foster a united Germany, and that he never engaged in a war that he was not absolutely sure he would win. In 1864, Bismarck had his chance to act.
Denmark took the German-populated duchies of Schleswig and Holstein (I have no idea how these are pronounced), which Prussia needed to unite Germany. Otto von Bismarck convinced now-ally Austria to join them in defeating the Danes. This became known as the Danish War, and Germany and Austria won and each claimed a duchy.
Bismarck, however, needed the other duchy from Austria, so he had to plan carefully. He convinced Austria’s potential allies, Russia, France, and Italy (he won over Italy by promising to make the Austrians give them Venetia for their neutrality). Then, Bismarck attacked Austria (yes, their ally) in 1866, sparking the Austro-Prussian War. After the war ended and Prussia gained the land it needed, they and Austria became surprisingly good friends again, despite the fact that Prussia had just betrayed them and then declared war on them.
Only one country still had land that Prussia needed to unite: France. Napoleon III, by that point, had transformed Paris and much of France into a booming, clean, industrial mega-center that was prospering quite rapidly. But France was powerful, so before Bismarck could attack them, he ensured that all of Frances allies would remain neutral (imagine that you are at school, and the bully convinces all your friends to ignore you while he or she beats you up. That’s what Bismarck was doing).
Finally, the opportunity came when a relative of the King of Prussia was placed on the Spanish throne, prompting France to feel threatened and demand he be removed. Prussia removed him, but then France persisted, demanding an apology. They sent this demand by telegram, a telegram that Bismarck personally intercepted, edited to make it look way more insulting than it actually was, and made public. Now, Prussia’s people were outraged that France had “insulted” them, and willingly went to war, the Franco-Prussian War (1871), to be exact.
Prussia won, despite the military skill of Napoleon III (who was even captured during the conflict), and Wilhelm I was crowned Kaiser Wilhelm I in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The united Germany gave France back most of its land, taking only what they needed, before Otto von Bismarck began crafting alliances.
Shortly before this, in 1867, Austria got rid of the Reichsrat and established the final Austro-Hungarian government with the Ausgleich. (Once again, pronunciation is lost unto me).
Just a refresher: by now, Austria likes Germany but hates Russia, who hates them back. Russia is not a fan of Germany or Italy, and Italy feels inclined to ally themselves with Germany because they helped them unite their country during the move for Italian unification. France, of course, found common ground with Russia: they disliked Germany.
Bismarck, meanwhile, crafted the Triple Alliance, which included Italy and Austria (for protection from France). England, France, and Russia created the Triple Entente to oppose this alliance. Soon, Bismarck decided to attack the Catholic Church (in politics), which proved to be his downfall. He tried to divert public outrage at him toward the socialists, which failed, and he was ousted from government in 1890 by Kaiser Wilhelm II. The kaiser, personally, was said to be a kind man, but he was simply horrible at leading a country.
With Bismarck out of the picture, Wilhelm II was free to run the treaties of Germany as he pleased, and he neglected keeping Russia and Austria away from each other’s throats, leading to increased tension between these two once-allied nations.
While all this was going on, a few final things of note. The Berlin Crisis, in the late 1800’s, resulted in the destruction of the Treaty of San Stefano, resulting in the formation of new territories, the shrinking of Bulgaria, and Russia’s humiliation. There was also the first and second Crisis of the Balkans, in which Serbia lost territory to Austria and Bulgaria lost land to Serbia (Balkan Wars). This placed the Triple Entente and Alliance at even greater odds with each other.
Finally, that fateful day came in 1914 that the Archduke of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by Princip. The nation demanded impossible demands from Serbia, knowing that they would not be able to pay them, giving Austria-Hungry the perfect excuse to declare war on them. Now the entirety of the Balkans was pulled into the war, but it was Russia that truly got it started.
Russia declared war on Austria-Hungry, forcing Germany to protect its ally and declare war on Russia. This could have been the worst of it, but German General Ludendorff declared that the only way Germany could defeat Russia was by taking out their ally, France, before France could come to Russia’s aid. He would not hinder from this plan, what’s more, it also maintained that Germany would advance into France through neutral Belgium, which immediately drew England into the conflict.
And that is how the Great War began, in a very fast, basic sense. It is odd, really: the First World War really had no good or bad side (aside from the Ottomans, because of the Armenian Genocide). For the most part, the countries of Europe were simply in the wrong situations at the wrong time, and the soldiers of the Great War were just men and boys wearing different colors.
Well, for those of you who managed to make it to the end of this post, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And thank you so much for tolerating my rambling for so long.